own eyes.

"Father, I can't believe it. I can't tell you how it hurts me.
I would willingly take your place if it were possible. Forgive me
for deserting you--" Graydon was saying incoherently when his father
lifted his face suddenly, a fierce, horrified look of understanding
in the eyes that flashed upon Elias Droom. Even as he clasped his
son's hand in the bitterness of small joy, his lips curled into
a snarl of fury. Droom's eyes shifted instantly, his uneasy gaze
directing itself as usual above the head of its victim.

"You did this, curse you!" came from the convict's livid lips. "And
this girl, too! Good God, you knew I would rather have died than
to meet Graydon as I am now. You knew it and you brought him here.
I hope you will rot in hell for this, Elias Droom. She comes here,
too, to gloat--to rejoice--to see how I look before my son in
prison stripes!" He went on violently for a long stretch, ending
with a sob of rage. "I suppose you are satisfied," he said hoarsely
to Droom.

Graydon and Jane looked on in surprise and distress. Droom's gaze
did not swerve nor his expression change.

"Father, didn't you expect me to come?" asked Graydon. "Don't you
want to see me?"

"Not here. Why should I have tried to keep you from returning to
this country? God knows how I hoped and prayed that you'd not see
me here. Elias Droom knew it. That's why he brought you here. Don't
lie to me, Droom. I know it!"